Home Mission pics

Tuesday, 3 September 2013

Crossing the Threshold

A visitor to a Baptism at Rodbourne Cheney Baptist Church asked if she could come to the church again. During the conversation that followed, she pointed out that it wasn't at all obvious that there was an open invitation to come in. Helpfully, she then compiled the following list of suggestions that might help a church send a message of welcome to its community.

Some of them are obvious, but are they so obvious that they can get overlooked? Thanks to Paul Rhodes for sending this in.

Crossing the threshold of the building
takes courage so we need to remove the ‘fear element’ and ensure that people
know that they would be very welcome.

NOTICEBOARD

It would be helpful to have a noticeboard
outside the building which allows fresh notices to be placed on it. There needs
to be a very clear statement that: ‘NO INVITATION NEEDED - COME IN’ and the
church is the people not the building.

- ‘Who’s who’ on a board outside or in the
doorway;

- Photos on the board of people having fun,
including light-hearted ones (e.g. Pastor in ‘David’ costume – ‘David’ is a character who tells
the narrative at the midweek Kids Club);

- List of activities and who they are for.

OPEN DAY

The church could hold an open day when we
have:

- Music - Crafts - Stalls

- Face painting - Bring-and-Buy - Meet and Greet

- T-Shirts for kids with balloons being given
out to passing children and their parents.

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What's this blog for?

In the movement of God's people we call WEBA, there is always more going on than we could imagine.This blog is a space where the story of mission can be told in any way that's convenient. This will also be the place where we let you know what's happening to the money you've given to the Baptist family purse, Home Mission, and how the appeal is doing this year.If you'd like to share one of the ways your church is reaching out - however big or small - please tell me about it at ruth.whiter@webassoc.org.uk

Home Mission

Home Mission is the Baptist Movement's shared purse. Each church is encouraged to give at least 5% of general income to the fund, and churches can apply for grants for mission - either to help with the cost of ministry, or with the costs of a specific project.

We're thrilled by the way so many churches gave generously in 2012. Our 120 churches gave £250,101, an increase of nearly £3,500 on the 2011 total, despite increasingly tough economic circumstances.

In turn, around 20 churches and situations in WEBA benefit from grants to enable their mission.